AFTERMATH: Pens oust Caps in 6 | The Luckiest Bunch of Luckers That Ever Lucked

[Fordy]

this is why matt murray is your goalie until he fails. completely in the head of one of the best goal scorers in the game

this is why so many pucks jumped over his stick and he shot wide a million times. maybe ovie himself didn't have any issues with the speed, but his coach did, and a 21 year old had him stuck

 

[PensBandwagonerNo272*]

I hate Shero more for not signing him to a long term deal before he got fired tbh. There was no reason for us to lose Niskanen, he should have been viewed as a top-4 fixture for our defense.

Meh, I had no problem letting him walk at the contract he was given. We had the Maattas Pouliots Dumoulins of the world knocking on the door at the time. Same reason PMPM is a Shark.

 

[Waffle Fries]

What's with the Niskanen hate? He was such a solid player for us. There was no way he was going to turn down the money that the Caps offered him, we weren't going to come close to matching that.

I personally was never a big fan. He was very good in his last season here, but overall I found him to be pretty mediocre. I didn't want to pay him what he was going to get after that last year, and I'm still very happy we didn't.

Besides he went to Washington to follow Orpik and Reirdin, not for the money, and he got all pissy about Bylsma being fired. I think it's totally fair for posters to have no sympathy for him.

 

[DoktorZaius]

Meh, I had no problem letting him walk at the contract he was given. We had the Maattas Pouliots Dumoulins of the world knocking on the door at the time. Same reason PMPM is a Shark.

It was a situation where if he'd given him an extension early in that season, he gets Nisky at a lower price. But Shero had to do Shero things, like wasting assets at TDL and never recouping them (Orpik) or pre-preemptively signing an actual useful player to term (Nisky).

 

[Fordy]

What's with the Niskanen hate? He was such a solid player for us. There was no way he was going to turn down the money that the Caps offered him, we weren't going to come close to matching that.

never really liked niskanen tbh especially in the playoffs

i may be mixed up but wasn't there a tinge of hossa-ish "i'm going to a better team" type of thing when he left? thankful for what they did for his career but heading for greener pastures? or maybe it was that he was following what's his face, bylsma's ousted d coach? he struck me as one of bylsma's guys. he got exactly what you were looking for in that case, the 2014 pens over again

 

[ncm7772]

never really liked niskanen tbh especially in the playoffs

i may be mixed up but wasn't there a tinge of hossa-ish "i'm going to a better team" type of thing when he left? thankful for what they did for his career but heading for greener pastures? or maybe it was that he was following what's his face, bylsma's ousted d coach? he struck me as one of bylsma's guys. he got exactly what you were looking for in that case, the 2014 pens over again

Great post, pretty much agree with everything you said.

 

[Whale Mingo]

Why should they have seen this coming? That's a damn good team. We beat them in 6 games, but man that series could have gone either way. No need to act like we are some vastly superior team. Our 21 year old goalie just outplayed their likely Vezina winner. Who could have seen that coming?

Don't think we are a vastly superior team by any stretch, but the Caps playoff failures are worse than ours. At least with ours you can look back at injuries, a team built with flaws or players simply misused. With the Caps, what are the reasons other than choking?

Plus, I was never really a Niskanen fan, so there's that.

 

[PensandCaps]

Still, nisky was aweseom his last year here. Wish we kept him.

 

[Randy Butternubs]

Still, nisky was aweseom his last year here. Wish we kept him.

I feel like you've been drinking all day. I'm jealous.

 

[UnderratedBrooks44]

Don't think we are a vastly superior team by any stretch, but the Caps playoff failures are worse than ours. At least with ours you can look back at injuries, a team built with flaws or players simply misused. With the Caps, what are the reasons other than choking?

Plus, I was never really a Niskanen fan, so there's that.

That's a really one dimensional view of it. The Caps couldn't settle on a goalie, their defense wasn't that good, and their third best forward by far was Alexander "Don't ask me I just cash the checks" Semin. They were a flashy team but lacked a lot of other things. I would cite some of the old Sharks teams as more likely to be labeled chokers. Regardless, since the Cup both teams have been disappointing in recent years. We've got the Cup though so it's 100x easier to swallow.

Plus I just think sometimes **** happens. We all want to break everything down to its core, but sometimes a team plays it's ass off against another good team and loses, and sometimes it happens multiple times. For instance I don't believe the Ducks losing four Game 7s in a row is directly related to Bruce Boudreau. Coincidences and bad luck happen.

 

[Shady Machine]

I watched a few Caps exit interviews. Nisky was really bummed. I like that guy.

Anyway, no Orpik interview for some reason. Maybe it isn't up yet but 20 other player interviews.

 

[Asuna]

I watched a few Caps exit interviews. Nisky was really bummed. I like that guy.

Anyway, no Orpik interview for some reason. Maybe it isn't up yet but 20 other player interviews.

Where are they at?

 

[MtlPenFan]

I think Nisky and Orpik were part of the "Cult of Bylsma"

There was an interview last year, right before the Pens played for the first time in Washington, where Nisky railed against management/ownership on how they treated Bylsma upon his firing and said something like "The guy won them a Stanley Cup!"

Words can't express how much I despise Orpik though, and the old school mentality in the media and League circles that apply value to guys like him.

It's all hockey all the time where I live, and I can't even begin to tell you how hockey experts with daily radio hits here blame Orpik's absence during his suspension for the Caps losing 2 out of 3 games.

 

[Gurglesons]

It was a situation where if he'd given him an extension early in that season, he gets Nisky at a lower price. But Shero had to do Shero things, like wasting assets at TDL and never recouping them (Orpik) or pre-preemptively signing an actual useful player to term (Nisky).

I bet if Niskanen was still here you'd be saying that Shero did Shero things by signing him to a long term contract.

Matt Niskanen is one of the last defensemen in the league that should have a seven year deal. He is the Nick Spaling of defensemen. I like him, but the last thing we needed to do when we had Maatta, Dumo, Despres, and Pouliot in the wings was to make a long term commitment to Niskanen.

 

[Get To Our Game]

I hope the Capitals try to sign Lovejoy when (if??) the Pens let him walk.

 

[UnderratedBrooks44]

I watched a few Caps exit interviews. Nisky was really bummed. I like that guy.

Anyway, no Orpik interview for some reason. Maybe it isn't up yet but 20 other player interviews.

I believe there was some kind of Orpik interview because someone on my Facebook posted a screen shot of it and he was wearing a 412 shirt underneath his shoulder pads, which was hilarious and awkward at the same time.

 

[NeedleInTheHay]

Still, nisky was aweseom his last year here. Wish we kept him.

His last year here he was a big reason they blew a 3-1 lead to the Rangers.

 

[billybudd]

I think Nisky and Orpik were part of the "Cult of Bylsma"

There was an interview last year, right before the Pens played for the first time in Washington, where Nisky railed against management/ownership on how they treated Bylsma upon his firing and said something like "The guy won them a Stanley Cup!"

Words can't express how much I despise Orpik though, and the old school mentality in the media and League circles that apply value to guys like him.

It's all hockey all the time where I live, and I can't even begin to tell you how hockey experts with daily radio hits here blame Orpik's absence during his suspension for the Caps losing 2 out of 3 games.

If find it fascinating that Milbury, who, perhaps aside from Cherry, best represents the "old school mentality," is one of the only media members who sees Brooks Orpik for what he is. He's definitely the only member of the media who vocalizes that good old Brooksie is a selfish chickenhawk and faker.

 

[hooverdam]

Wasn't Niskanen super outraged about the Bylsma firing and how Reirden was treated? There was no way he was signing here after that. He specifically followed Reirden.

 

[Deutschland Dangler]

If find it fascinating that Milbury, who, perhaps aside from Cherry, best represents the "old school mentality," is one of the only media members who sees Brooks Orpik for what he is. He's definitely the only member of the media who vocalizes that good old Brooksie is a selfish chickenhawk and faker.

That's just because he blew up a Bruin and refused to fight, though. I don't think it has anything to do with anything else.

 

[Fordy]

thanks for verifying my vague feeling that had niskanen negatively associated with the bylsma era and reminding me of what it was. i do not like niskanen and am glad he failed

 

[Shady Machine]

Where are they at?

Their website.

 

[tom_servo]

Don't ask if it's real. For all intents and purposes, it's real.

 

[Human]

I

I don't have any sympathy for him.

**** you, Niskanen...

I hate Shero more for not signing him to a long term deal before he got fired tbh. There was no reason for us to lose Niskanen, he should have been viewed as a top-4 fixture for our defense.

I hate Shero for keeping all those defenseman until the off-season when they became UFAs without getting anything in return for them. Shero was such a loser... unbelievable... professional GM.

 

[ColePens]

And we finally come to a close. With Game 1 tmw night and the new series thread up, let's close this ***** up. Bye Washington.